Day 18, January 23, San Francisco, California

This was our last travel day. Only three more days before we all go back home to our real lives. To my wife and boys, I miss you! While on route from Kansas City to San Francisco, I went over some of the trade statistics I had collected over the past couple weeks. I came to the conclusion that I, being in the agriculture industry, sometimes lose sight of the big trade picture. I looked at some numbers today that put ag commodity trade in a new light for me. Trade in agri-food is significant to your livelihood and mine, and to the life-giving energy and enjoyment it provides all people, but in terms of Canada-U.S. trade it's but a small part.

In 2006, Canada exported US$303 billion worth of goods to the U.S. The top six exports were related to cars or petroleum. The top export was "motor vehicles for transporting people," valued at almost $37 billion. Next was crude oil, valued at $33 billion. Items three to six are as follows: petroleum gases, motor vehicle parts, oil (not crude), and motor vehicles for transporting goods. Total value of these six exports amounted to around $125 billion.

That leaves lots of money left over for other stuff, but in scanning the top 50 U.S. imports — from all countries! — I did not find anything remotely related to food. The only top-50 import related to agriculture was tractors in spot 46. And again, these ratings are for imports from all countries. Some of those tractors would be John Deere's coming from Germany. (All of these numbers are from World City, a publication of U.S. trade numbers. Go to www.ustradenumbers.com.) So even though the U.S. is the major market for Canadian agri-food exports, these rank low on the list of U.S. imports.

Interestingly, I found a number of farm commodities on the top-50 list of U.S. exports. The U.S. exported $7.3 billion worth of corn to the world in 2006, good for 21st spot on the list. Soybeans where one spot behind with $6.9 billion. The U.S. also exported $4.2 billion worth of wheat, putting it in 48th spot.

An info package I got from the Canadian Embassy in Washington says Canada imported $10 billion worth of U.S. agri-food products in 2005. This includes fruit and vegetables from California. (Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) This is about five per cent of total Canadian imports of U.S. products. In short, our biggest agricultural exports to the U.S. — canola oil, wheat and beef — don't add up to much when compared to oil, cars, wood or aluminum. Now you know why when Ontario and its autoworkers get nervous, Ottawa listens. 

My intro to San Francisco...

We had a two-hour tour shortly after arrival. We went up to Twin Peaks to see the city from above, we drove through Golden Gate Park, and we walked on Ocean Beach and saw surfers and 10-foot waves. Then we drove through Haight-Ashbury — the hippie haven of the '60s, Fisherman's Wharf, China Town, and down Lombard Street, "the crookedest street in the world." San Francisco is a great place. The temperature is cool, around 8 C, but it's a treat to see palm trees and green grass. The city only has about 800,000 residents, but it doesn't have any room to expand outward. That's why property values are very high and there is not an inch between houses. Streets that are too step to safely navigate are turned into the most treacherous parking lots I've ever seen. I would hate to be here the day they have snow.